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WorksheetsFossil Record and Evolutionary History
Total questions: 13
Worksheet time: 22mins
What is a vestigial structure?
A structure found on an organism which is no longer useful but shows the links between common ancestors.
Structures which evolved independently based on selective pressures.
Structures that organisms have in common, such as fur on cats and dogs.
Structures that organisms inherit that increase their fitness for the environment in which they live.
What is a homologous structure?
Structures that unrelated species have in common. These structures evolved independently based on similar selective pressures. e.g. the wings on bats and butterflies.
Structures in different species which are similar because they share common ancestors. e.g. the forelimbs of humans and primates.
Structures which have no purpose any more but species still have them as traces of previous adaptations. e.g. tailbones on humans.
Structure which exists only in one species found on Earth.
What is an analogous structure?
Structures that unrelated species have in common. These structures evolved independently based on similar selective pressures. e.g. the wings on bats and butterflies.
Structures in different species which are similar because they share common ancestors. e.g. the forelimbs of humans and primates.
Structures which have no purpose any more but species still have them as traces of previous adaptations. e.g tailbones on humans.
Structure which exists only in one species found on Earth.
What is radioactive dating?
Toxic relationships.
A change in the DNA of organisms over time.
A technique used to determine the age of a fossil, by calculating the number of half-lives that have occurred.
Evidence of past volcanic eruptions.
True or False: Phylogenetic trees and Cladograms are diagrams which illustrate the same information.
True
False
It is accepted in the scientific community that whales evolved from land mammals. How would fossils provide evidence of this?
Fossils show that fish evolved into sharks.
Fossils show that sharks evolved into whales.
Fossils show that land mammals learned to swim.
Fossils show forelimbs adapting to fins, nostrils moving from the front of the head to the top, and hindlimbs becoming shorter.
Which rock layer is newest in an undisturbed strata of sedimentary rock?
the middle layer
the top layer
the bottom layer
they're all the same age
Which law states that in layers of sedimentary rock, the top layer and the fossils contained within it are youngest, and the bottom layer and the fossils contained within it are the oldest?
Law of Antiquity
Law of Gravity
Law of Geology
Law of Superposition
Which is an example of analogous structures?
bird wings and insect wings.
goose wings and duck wings.
whale fins and dolphin fins.
human legs and chimpanzee legs.
Using the diagram, place the fossils in order of appearance from oldest to newest.
Trilobite, Bivalve, Gastropod, Ammonite
Ammonite, Gastropod, Bivalve, Trilobite
Bivalve, Trilobite, Ammonite, Gastropod
They all evolved at about the same time.
Which is an example of homologous structures?
human legs and chimpanzee legs
bird wings and moth wings
shark fins and penguin fins
platypus eggs and duck eggs
True or false: Evolution is purposeful and has an end-game or final form.
True
False
What questions would you like to ask about evolution? What do you wonder about or what are you confused about? We will talk about your answers in class.
